This invention relates to a method of betting on the occurrence of a particular outcome of an event, such as a sports events. More particularly, it relates to a betting process on events in which the amount won or lost by a bettor is a function of the deviation of the final event result (e.g., score) from a previously predicted result (e.g. point spread). The method is principally applicable to sporting events.
Betting on various types of events, such as sporting events, is a permitted activity in many parts of the world. In its simplest form, a bettor places a wager with a licensed establishment that a particular participant in a sporting event will prevail. If the bettor loses, the house keeps the amount bet. If the bettor wins, he is paid off according to a predetermined payout schedule, and the establishment will return to him the amount of the original bet plus some premium for having made a winning bet. In some instances, the payout schedule may include odds which will return a lower amount to the bettor if a favored team wins, or a higher amount in the event that an underdog team wins. The payout schedule may be also adjusted to keep a certain portion or percentage of the bet (vigorish) to compensate the house for taking risks and incurring costs associated with the wagering business. Alternatively, sometimes a commission only is charged.
Legalized bets can be made on any types of events, including political races, coin flipping, incidents of weather, event attendance, and almost any imaginable event where an outcome can be defined by a probability. Most legalized bets are made on sporting events, including football, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, boxing, hockey, horse racing, and the like. In the past, bettors have placed their bets prior to the commencement of the event, and expect to be compensated for a win in accordance with a known payout schedule. In some cases, however, the ultimate result of the event may become anticlimactic when one of the teams performs significantly better or worse than anticipated during the competition. For example, a football game may take three hours or more. If one team scores particularly heavily at an early portion of the game, from a bettor""s perspective, the outcome of the bet is essentially determined. Thereafter, the bettor loses interest in the remainder of the game, and any excitement associated with respect to the bet is depleted at that point. In recognition of this problem, sports books have attempted to maintain this excitement throughout the game by offering new bets with new odds which can be made at half-time, or at the quarters of football games, or have offered proposition bets involving specific incidents which might take place during the game. However, these efforts have not met with great success, and most bettors remain interested in excitement associated with bets on the final outcome of the game.
In an effort to maintain excitement from a bettor""s perspective in a sporting event, a betting method is set forth according to the invention in which the bettor can win or lose substantial amounts, relative to the initial bet, depending on the amount by which the final result of the game differs from the betting line (referred to in some cases as a xe2x80x9cpoint spreadxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cadjusted center pointxe2x80x9d). Bets according to the invention are made at the beginning of the sporting event, according to a win/loss schedule in which a bettor can win multiples of his initial bet if his team prevails by more points than the point spread, but can also lose multiples of his initial bet if his bet loses by more points than the point spread. According to the method of the invention, the larger the difference is between the final result and the point spread, the more a bettor will win or lose. Since these amounts can be substantial multiples of the original bet, a bettors interest is maintained until the very end of the event. For example, in a football game, a last-minute touchdown could result in an additional win or loss of many times (e.g., 7xc3x97) the original bet, and a last-minute field goal could similarly result in a payout swing of as much as a factor of three.
This system has the benefit of maintaining a bettor""s interest in a sporting event all the way to the end of the event, even though the actual result of the event may have been determined hours earlier. This is attractive to bettors, who enjoy the thrill of the bet and will enjoy watching the entire event, to the finish. However, this system also is very attractive to the house, since many more bettors will be attracted to the high stakes win/loss multiple. For example, many sports bettors do their own betting research and are convinced that they have a better ability than the house to predict the outcome of a game. Indeed, the house typically sets the line on a game based on a projected neutral betting outcome, with a goal being to attract an equal amount of betting on either side of the line. Thus, the house sets the line based on the projected response from its bettors. Many bettors believe that they are smarter, or better informed, than other bettors, and will thus be greatly attracted to a betting system where, if they have bet correctly, they can win large multiples of their original bet. This opportunity is currently not available in sports betting venues.
In addition to sparking player interest, the system of the invention provides the house with significant deposits to cover maximum potential losses. This front money, when multiplied by a large number of bets which may not be settled for days or weeks, creates a fund which can generate substantial interest for the house. Furthermore, the overall betting pool becomes much larger, since wagers are automatic up to the maximum possible loss.
The system of the invention also provides excellent flexibility for the house to entice bettors to one side of a bet without moving the line. Normally, if betting becomes heavier on one side of the center point than the other, the house will move the center point to encourage bets on the other side. However, a significant move of the line leaves the house vulnerable to being xe2x80x9cmiddledxe2x80x9d on the bet.
For example, assume that in a football game, team A is favored over team B by seven points, the line being xe2x80x9cTeam Axe2x88x927.xe2x80x9d If betting is disproportionately heavy on Team B, the house could move the line to xe2x80x9cTeam Axe2x88x925xe2x80x9d in an effort to attract more bets to Team A. However, if Team A wins by six points, the house would lose the initial bets on Team B as well as the bets on Team A after the line was moved.
Using the system of the invention, rather than moving the line, the house could attract bets to Team A by putting a cap on losses on bets on Team A (or making an existing cap on losses more favorable, e.g., by moving the cap from seven to five). Alternatively, the house could place a cushion on the multiple on wins for Team B. For example, the first multiple on winning bets on Team B could be moved to three points or more, but the multiple on wins for bets on Team A could remain at a margin of two points. These are examples of methods of the invention in which the bet can be balanced without moving the center point.
Accordingly, it is the general purpose and object of the invention to provide a betting process associated with a sporting event wherein, as a result of a bet made prior to the event, a bettor may win or lose substantial additional amounts based upon the departure of the actual outcome of the event from a predicted line or point spread. It is also an object of the invention to provide a betting system for sporting events wherein the final result of a player""s bet may change significantly near the end of the sporting event, even though the actual result of the event may be foreseeable at a much earlier point in the event. These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by the betting system which is described more fully herein.
A betting system is provided in which bettors can place bets on the occurrence or non-occurrence of an event with an establishment (the xe2x80x9chousexe2x80x9d). Embodiments of the system include a win/loss pay table by which the bettors may win or lose substantial multiples of their original bets based on the deviation of the actual event outcome from the adjusted center point of the bet set by the house prior to the event (i.e., the win or loss margin).
For example, in a game of American football, after the house posts an initial betting line comprising a point spread, the bettor may bet on either team, obtaining or giving up a fixed number of points as determined by the published line. If the final game result deviates from the published line, the bettor may win double the payout associated with his initial bet if his team prevails by two points more than the point spread, triple his initial bet if his team prevails by three points more than the point spread, quadruple his initial bet if his team prevails by four points more than the point spread, etc. Conversely, the player may lose double his initial bet if his bet loses by two points more than the point spread, triple if his bet loses by three points more than the point spread, etc. Since the player is obligated to pay the house at the end of the game in the event of a loss, it will be customary for the house only to offer these bets to customers with established credit, or to customers who deposit the full amount of the potential loss with the house at the time the ticket is written.
In variations on the betting system, the house may provide xe2x80x9ccapsxe2x80x9d on wins and losses to eliminate the possibility of extremely large wins or losses for either the house or for bettors in the event of aberrational final results. For example, the house may establish a limit of a maximum of wins or losses of five times, or ten times, the initial bet. In another modification of the system, the house can provide a xe2x80x9ccushionxe2x80x9d above or below the line before multiples of the bet will begin to apply. For example, in a football game, the win or loss may not multiply until the final result deviates from the line by a fixed number of points, which may be, for example, three, four, five, six, or seven points.